Category Archives: Uncategorized

I have decided to stop accepting custom orders until further notice. I am going to be working on the order backlog I have and, in the future, I plan to offer ready made whips for sale that will have no wait. Please bear with me as I transition from the custom orders to ready-made orders.

This change will not effect the orders already on my list. Those whips will still be made and shipped out. I’ve just decided this would be the best thing for me to do now that I am back to making whips as a hobby again.

I appreciate the business and support over the years. It’s been 15 years since I first started selling nylon whips online. I never really thought it would last this long. I have no plans to quit, just transition to a business model I think I’ll enjoy better.

I went full time making whips in May 2012. It was a good run, but because of the need for medical insurance and other benefits whipmaking did not provide, I recently took a full time EMS job. With that, I’m no longer a “full time whipmaker.”

I have been running behind schedule for most of the year because of a number of situations and responsibilities that providence has brought my way. Right now I just cannot seem to make up any ground on whip orders. For those who are waiting on an order, please rest assured I will get to it as soon as possible. I work on them as much as I can when I’m not at work or working on something that has to be done here on the farm.

My plan for now is to work on the back log and toward eventually making whips as a hobby again by moving away from doing custom orders. I don’t know how long that will take, but that’s the direction I think I’d like to go now. That being stated, I will continue to accept custom orders for certain whip types for the foreseeable future. It’s just that the wait time for those will be longer as already reflected on the posted estimates at Cowwhips.com

I want to make it clear that, if you’re on my order list and reading this, you will get your whip. I am not going to leave anyone hanging.

I was recently contacted by German whip coach Robby Amper and given the honor of having my own special gallery at the Whip Basics Forum. It is my own personal thread on the forum -open to the public- where I can post photos of the whips I’ve made. It has only been online for a bit over two weeks, but already had over 1100 visits as of today.

To see what all I’ve posted so far, click on the Whip Basics banner below:

It may seem a bit out of place to find a bee related fundraising campaign on a whip site, but I would like to share with you our “Help us grow. Help the Bees!” Campaign.

Honeybees today face more threats than ever. Every year beekeepers face an average loss of 30% of their colonies. We lost 25% of our colonies this year, some have lost a much larger percentage.

We often meet people who are concerned and would like to make a difference, but don’t know what to do. Perhaps they cannot keep bees themselves due to their location or just don’t have the time for a new hobby.

Kelley Honeybee Farm was founded by Rhett Kelley in 2010 with the goal of becoming a multi-generational family operated apiary. We started with just 4 colonies in our backyard and have now grown to 38. We were recently featured in a local newspaper article and met with Congressman John Barrow to discuss the issues facing us as well.

Your contributions will enable us to expand our apiary debt free and have resources available for when times come that swarms or colonies need to be rescued.

How we will use the funds if we meet the goal:

Establish and maintain 10 brand new colonies in 2014.

Enable us to purchase colonies from beekeepers who decide to downsize or need to reduce their number of colonies.

Provide funding for supporting swarm and feral colony rescues.

Purchase a portable observation hive and educational materials for use in community education projects.

Purchase and/or refurbish equipment to support expansion and the 2014 honey harvest.

Covered storage area for our equipment.

Website upgrade.

Upgrade our locally adapted queen bee rearing program.

The Impact

Your contributions will help us expand our apiary debt free instead of going to a bank or the government farm programs for funding. Your contributions will help to produce healthy bees that produce honey of the highest quality and purity as you will see when you receive the honey we send you at harvest time (U.S. donors only, but possibly other nations if regulations do not prevent the importation of our honey).

Perhaps you are one of those bee friendly people who have severe allergies to bee stings or cannot keep bees yourself for various other reasons? This is one option for you to be able to help the bee population directly. We will put your generous contribution to work for the bees in your stead.

Because we have managed to avoid debt and expand thus far in a very cost conscious manner, we will be able to make your contributions to have a bigger impact for less.

Those who sponsor us will have their name or their business/organization name posted on our sponsor page on our website.

More about Kelley Honeybee Farm

Our philosophy in beekeeping is to avoid using chemical pesticide treatments for common apiary pests. We rely upon integrated pest management techniques and organic treatments to keep problems to a minimum.

The secret is out that much of the honey sold in U.S. supermarkets is illegally sourced honey from China where many chemicals and antibiotic treatments are used that are illegal in the United States. Our honey is as natural as it gets; never adulterated or cut with corn syrup, pasteurized, or filtered like the honey you find often in grocery stores.

Even if you cannot contribute, sharing our campaign with others would be a great way to help us find people who may be able to contribute.We’d even appreciate prayers for our family, this funding campaign, and for the success of our apiary.